The copy-text is Darrow 1924 (=A), the text taken from the Wilson Company’s 1924 pamphlet, posted on the University of Minnesota’s Law Library website. Darrow, ever mindful of his public persona and the written record of his speeches, borrowed–and did not return–some of the original court transcripts of his closing statement to work on an edited version for publication after the trial (“The Judgment”). This creates some challenges because there is no complete set of court transcripts for all three days of Darrow’s speech. Text A is a proof-read replica of Darrow’s summation published in 1924 by the Wilson Publishing Company. The October 4, 1924 issue of the Chicago Defender carries an advertisement on page A14 for the Wilson’s Company’s 50-cent publication, which contains not just Darrow’s closing statement but Crowe’s arguments and Caverly’s verdict, as well as supplementary material such as the full text of letters exchanged by the boys, the ransom notes sent to the victim’s family, and a précis of the case. This version is largely identical to that published in Words of a Century (=B): this version draws on the court stenographer’s recordings for the first day of Darrow’s speech and the Wilson pamphlet for the second and third days (Lucas and Medhurst). The editors of Words of a Century note that of the various versions of Darrow’s speech in circulation, the Wilson pamphlet hews most closely to the court stenographer’s recordings for the first day, and is able to convey “the distinctly extemporaneous flavor of his remarks on days two and three” (p. xxi), prompting their decision to rely on the pamphlet to provide the text for the second and third days in their compilation of Darrow’s statement. I use the Wilson pamphlet’s version of Darrow’s address as the basis of Text A, while following the Lucas and Medhurst version (Text B) for spelling, grammar, and word usage.

Darrow 1924 [=B] is followed for spelling, grammar, and word usage (details are provided in the notes below)
Paragraph numbers have been added in square brackets at the beginning of each paragraph.
The text of this edition has been thoroughly checked and proofread.
Departures from the Copy-Text and General Editorial Procedures
Notes: The following is a list of instances where the language found in Text B is used over the language in Text A.
105 There is not any man on earth [who] can mention B: There is not any man on earth can mention A
118 who go down into [dis]honor and disgrace B: who go down into honor and disgrace A
194 It has been heralded, broadcast through the world B: It has been heralded broadcast through the world A
Bibliographic Sources for Statement of Editorial Procedures
“Just Out: Loeb-Leopold Case” Chicago Defender, October 4, 1924, A14.

Lucas, Stephen E. and Martin J. Medhurst, eds. Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900-1999. Oxford University Press, 2009.

2. Exact Date and Place of Delivery: 22, 23 and 25 August 1924, Cook County Criminal Court, Chicago, Illinois.

3. Complete Name of Speaker, with year of birth and year of death: Clarence Seward Darrow (1857- 1939).

4. Complete name of editor or compiler of electronic text, with indication of role: Rohini S. Singh (obtained text of Darrow’s address from University of Minnesota’s Law Library website’s PDF copy of the Wilson Company pamphlet (“The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection,” Law Library, University of Minnesota. http://darrow.law.umn.edu/trials.php?tid=1), converted into Word Document, inserted paragraph numbers, proofread for spelling mistakes, inserted dates as section headings for each day of the speech, and checked word usage against Text B).

5. Date of Electronic edition: [Unknown – taken from University of Minnesota’s Law Library, “The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection”]

6. Languages: English (100%)

7. Proposed Library of Congress Subject Heading: Law (general level); Law of the United States (specific level); Library of Congress Classification: KF (Law of the United States), OR K181 (Miscellany)
8. Indication of editing functions performed: (e.g., data entry, proof-reading), by whom (complete name), and when performed (complete [inclusive] dates):
Rohini S. Singh: Obtained text from University of Minnesota’s Law Library website’s PDF copy of the Wilson Company pamphlet, converted into Word Document, inserted paragraph numbers in square brackets, proofread for spelling mistakes, inserted dates as section headings for each day of the speech (September 7th, 2014).
Rohini S. Singh: Changed speech title from Wilson Company’s original title to match title of interpretive essay in this Voices of Democracy unit. Wilson Company’s original title: “Attorney Clarence Darrow’s Speech in the Franks Case before Judge Caverly in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Chicago, Ill., August 22 to 25, 1924.” Amended to: “Clarence Darrow, “Plea for Leopold and Loeb,” Cook County Criminal Court, Chicago, Illinois (22, 23, and 25 August, 1924). (September 7th, 2014).
Rohini S. Singh checked and edited Speech Text A against Speech Text B.